Welcome to the 2019 MidSchoolMath National Conference! #MidSchoolMath2019

Looking for Session Handouts? Check out the Conference Dropbox at http://bit.ly/MidSchoolMath2019! Additional materials will be added as they are provided.

Thank you for joining us in Santa Fe for our 6th Annual Conference! If you selected your sessions prior to Sunday, 2/24, a print copy of your personalized schedule will be provided in your attendee packet. You’ll also get a daily agenda email from SCHED!

As a reminder, helpful information about traveling to Santa Fe, including airport shuttle services, featured hotels, getting around town, restaurants, and more can be found here.

After the Conference, please take a moment to provide session feedback using SCHED! Thank you!

Limited CapacityfullAdding this to your schedule will put you on the waitlist.

It has dawned upon us that math as it was taught in the US over the course of my lifetime has been a disservice. Products of our math education system have declared themselves “not math people”. And we have allowed that to go on for far too long.

While it’s accepted that there are myriad interpretations of say a poem or a story, it has long been held that there is only one interpretation of a math problem - namely, the answer. We have recognized that math is not a binary subject in school. It is not merely “right” or “wrong”. There are many avenues to the solution...and even if you don’t get the “answer”, you likely did many things well.

The anxiety that exists around math education involves much more than this binary attitude we think we’ve done away with. It involves the assumptions we have as teachers. Math is a secret class. This starts with the very set of teaching strategies we’ve come to accept as best practice. Students may not be aware, in fact, that math is a binary subject out in the world. You don’t use multiple avenues to figure out the square footage of your backyard. Students need to be explicitly told that math education isn’t binary, but math as you may use it every day, is.

Similarly, many assumptions are held in the classroom. Numbers, as initially presented to children have no markings. Then, suddenly, we have “negative” numbers. And if the numbers aren’t negative...they’re positive. Which is what we’ve been dealing with all along but we haven’t told the kids there’s a secret “+” sign in front of those numbers. Students are taught that the number after 1 is 2. And then one day...presto...there’s 1.5. 9 is 9. But add a zero...and it’s 90. We don’t mention that while we’re adding a zero, we’re also moving the decimal point to the right. Otherwise, 9 with a zero added would be 9.0. These nuances are confusing and subtle and assumed.

In this session, we'll look at the math continuum through the eyes of the learner...and question everything.

Graduated college with a Finance degree, worked in corporate accounting for 5 years, stayed at home with 2 little boys for 3 years, got my teaching credential and have been teaching 6th-8th math for 14 years. The teaching part was my best idea. Not including having kids... Read More →